v 5 g butter
v 30 ml oil
v 1 chicken,
skinned and jointed or 900 g chicken portions
v 4 rindless back
bacon rashers, chopped
v 3 onions, sliced
v 1 garlic clove, crushed
v 15 ml mild curry powder
v 25 g ground almonds
v 2 litres chicken stock
v 175 g red lentils
v salt and pepper
v hot boiled rich to serve
- Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Add the chicken and brown the joints all over, then remove them from the pan and set aside.
- Add the bacon, onions and garlic to the fat remaining in the pan and cook over gentle heat
for 5 minutes, then stir in the curry powder and cook for 2 minutes more.
- In a small bowl, mix the ground almonds to a paste with a little of the stock. Set aside.
- Add the remaining stock to the pan and return the chicken joints. Bring to the boil,
lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour or until the chicken is tender.
- Remove the chicken and cut the meat off the bones, then set aside.
Skim any fat off the soup. Add the lentils and bring back to the boil. Reduce the heat,
cover and simmer the soup for 30 minutes.
- Stir the almond paste into the pan and replace the chicken meat.
Simmer for a further 5 – 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning before serving very hot,
with boiled rice.
v 500 g button mushrooms
v 4 tbsp olive oil
v 4 tbsp sunflower oil
v 2 garlic cloves, crushed
v 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
v a pince of sugar
v 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
v 1 tbsp chopped fresh
tarragon or 1 tbsp dried tarragon
v 2 – 3 tbsp soured cream
v salt and pepper
Croutons
v 3 slices white bread
v about 4 tbsp olive oil
v 1 garlic clove, crushed
To serve
v mixed salad leaves
v crisply fried bacon,
crumbled (optional)
v 1 garlic clove, crushed
- Trim the mushrooms, cutting the stems off level with the caps.
Wipe the mushrooms and place in a large bowl. If the mushrooms are large, halve
or quarter them.
- Whisk together the olive and sunflower oils, garlic, mustard, sugar, seasoning and
vinegar until completely emulsified, then add the tarragon.
- Pour the dressing over the mushrooms; toss them thoroughly in the dressing and leave
to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours, giving an occasional stir so
they are all well coated.
- To make the croutons, remove the crusts from the bread and cut it into 1 cm cubes.
Heat the oil with the garlic in a frying pan and fry the bread cubes for a few minutes
until golden brown. Drain thoroughly on paper towels.
- Drain the mushrooms, reserving the marinade. Mit 3 tablespoons of the marinade with
the soured cream and season to taste.
- Arrange the salad leaves on individual serving plates and spoon the mushrooms on top.
Spoon the dressing over the mushrooms, then sprinkle with the croutons and bacon,
if using, and serve.
Serves 4
v 30 g butter
v 30 g plain flour
v 300 ml milk
v ½ tsp mustard
v good pinch of chilli powder
v 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
v 2 eggs, separated
v 300 – 350 g cooked salmon
v 150 ml double (heavy)
cream or soured cream
v 4 tsp powdered gelatine
v 3 tbsp water
v salt and pepper
v Toast to serve
To garnish
v basil sprigs
v stuffed green olives
or black olives
v cucumber slices
v salad leaves
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for a minute or so.
Gradually stir in the milk and bring to the boil.
Add the mustard, chilli powder, seasoning and vinegar and simmer for 2 minutes.
Beat in the egg yolks and simmer for 1 minute, stirring constantly,
then remove from the heat.
- Flake the salmon, discarding any skin and bones, and stir into the sauce.
- Lightly whip the double cream, if using, until thick but not too stiff and
fold this or the soured cream into the sauce.
- Dissolve the gelatine in the water in a small bowl over a saucepan of hot water,
or in a microwave oven set on medium power. Cool slightly then stir evenly through
the salmon mixture. Leave until on the point of setting.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff then fold into the salmon mixture. Pour into
an oiled fish mould, a serving dish or individual dishes. Chill until set.
- If using a dish or individual dishes garnish the top with slices of olive and
cucumber. If the mousse has been set in a mould, loosen it from the mould and
turn out carefully on to a flat dish. Garnish with basil sprigs, olives, slices
of cucumber and salad leaves and serve.
Serves 6 to 8
v 1 kg goose-breast
(with bones)
v Salt and pepper
v 1 piece of celeriac
v 500 ml hot water
v Juice of two oranges
v A pinch of flour
v Cold water
Heat: 200 – 225; or Gas: 4 – 5
Cooking time: approx. 1 ½ hours (depending upon the age of the bird)
- Wash and dry the goose-breast and season. Put into a roasting tray with the bones
facing the bottom of the tray. Put into oven. After 30 minutes pour away the grease.
- Clean and scrape the carrots and peel the celeriac. Add the carrots and celeriac
into the dish and roast for a short period.
- Add some of the hot water and leave the meat to cook. From time to time turn the meat.
- Replace the vaporised water. Just before the end of the cooking time pour the orange
juice over the meat.
- Part the cooked meat from the bones and cut into slices. Put onto a warmed plate and
keep it warm.
- Sieve the dripping and bind with flour. Add pepper and salt to the gravy.
Serves 6 to 8
v 750 g potatoes, peeled
v 60 g butter
v 1 egg, beaten
v Salt and pepper
v Grated nutmeg
- Mix the potato with the butter, egg, seasoning and nutmeg. Cool. Grease a baking sheet.
Pile the potato mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a star tube.
- Pipe on to the baking sheet and bake at 200 C or gas mark 6 for 20 to 25 minutes
until golden brown. Use to garnish savoury dishes.
v about 60 g butter,
softened
v 4 – 5 slices white
or brown bread
v 4 tbsp chunky
orange marmalade
v grated rind of 1 lemon
v 90 -125 g raisins
or sultanas
v 45 g chopped mixed peel
v 1 tsp ground cinnamon
or mixed spice
v 1 cooking apple,
peeled, cored and grated coarsely
v 90 g demerara or light
soft brown sugar
v 3 eggs
v 500 ml milk
v 2 tbsp demerara sugar
- Use the butter to grease an ovenproof dish and to spread on the slices of bread,
then spread the bread with marmalade.
- Place a layer of bread in the base of the dish and sprinkle with the lemon rind,
half the raisins or sultanas, half the peel, half the spice, all of the apple
and half the sugar.
- Add another layer of bread, cutting so it fits the dish.
- Sprinkle over most of the emaining raisins or sultanas and the remaining peel,
spice and sugar, sprinkling it evenly over the bread. Top with a final layer
of bread, again cutting to fit the dish.
- Beat together the eggs and milk and then pour over the bread in the dish. If
time allows, leave to stand for 20 – 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the demerara sugar and the remaining raisins or sultanas and cook
in a preheated oven at 200 C or gas 6 for 50 – 60 minutes until risen and
golden brown. Serve hot or cold
Serves 4 to 6
v 6 eggs, lightly beaten
v 250 g caster sugar
v 155 g self-raising flour
v 50 g cocoa powder
v 100 g walnuts, finely
chopped
v flaked almonds for
decoration
Apricot Syrup
v 250 g apricot jam
v 3 tblspn Cointreau
Choc Butter
v 155 g butter, softened
v 2 tblsp brandy
v 3 tblsp cocoa powder
v 140 g icing sugar
v 60 g Brazil nuts, chopped
v 350 ml double cream
v 250 g dark chocolate,
chopped
- Preheat oven to 200 C or gas 6. Line and grease a 23 cm cake tin. Using a handheld
electric mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour and cocoa together. Stir in the chopped walnuts.
Gently fold these ingredients into the egg mixture, if necessary using an electric
mixer briefly to combine. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes
out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
- Make the apricot syrup by melting the jam in a small saucepan until dissolved.
Press the jam through a sieve into a bowl, stir in the Cointreau, cover and set
aside.
- Make the choc-butter by mixing all the ingredients except the nuts in a bowl.
Beat until light and fluffy, then mix in nuts. Set aside.
- To make the ganace, bring the cream to the boil in a large saucepan, then simmer
for about 5 minutes or until reduced by one-quarter. Off the heat, stir in the
chopped chocolate until it has dissolved completely and the mixture is well
combined. Pour the ganache into a medium bowl, cover and chill for about 1 hour or
until thick enough to pipe.
- To assemble cake, cut sponge into three equal layers. Spread 20 of the layers with
apricot syrup, then with the choc-butter. Reassemble the cake, spread the top and
sides generously with ganache, then pipe the remaining ganache around the rim
of the cake.
v 1.5 kg apples
v strip of lemon rind
v brown sugar or
apricot jam
v white sandwich bread,
crusts removed
v 90 g butter, melted
- Core unpeeled apples and slice thickly. Place in a heavy saucepan with a nut of
butter and lemon rind, cover tightly and cook gently until very soft. Rub apples
through a coarse sieve and return to pan with brown sugar or apricot jam to
sweeten to taste.
- Bring to the boil and boil, stirring for 15 minutes or until mixture drops heavily
from the spoon and leaves the sides of the pan.
- Preheat oven to 190 C or gas 5. Remove crusts from bread and cut slices into long
strips about 4 cm wide. Dip strips into melted butter and arrange, overlapping,
in base and around the sides of a charlotte mould. Fill with apple purée and top
with remaining bread.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until bread is crisp and golden. Unmould onto a serving dish
and serve with a softly whipped cream or a sauce made by melting apricot jam with a
little water and sherry.
Serves 6
v 4 medium-sized oranges
v 4 tsp ml brown sugar
v 50 g unsalted butter
v 20 ml sweet sherry
- Cut a thin slice off the top of each orange. Using a grapefruit knife, cut around
inside the orange from the top, to loosen the flesh.
- Remove the flesh from the skin shell. Holding the flesh over a plate to catch the
juice, divide into segments, discarding membrane, pith and pips.
- Return the segments of orange and juice to the shell. Place 1 tsp sugar in each shell.
Divide the butter into four and place a piece in each shell.
- Place the oranges into a dish. Pour the sherry over the top.
- Bake at 180 C or gas 4 for 20 – 30 minutes.
Serves 4
v 4 – 5 kg oven-ready
goose, with giblets, thawed if frozen
v salt and pepper
v 15 g butter
v 1 large onion,
skinned and chopped
v 450 g no-soak prunes
v 60 ml port
v 15 ml chopped fresh sage
or 5 ml dried
v 100 g fresh wholemeal
breadcrumbs
v 6 Cox’s Orange Pippin
apples
v 300 ml dry white wine
- Prick the skin of the goose all over with a sharp skewer or fork and pull the
inside fat out of the bird. Rub salt over the skin.
- To make the stuffing, melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the onion
and cook for 5 – 6 minutes, until softened. Separate the goose liver from the
giblets and chop finely, then add to the onion and cook gently for 2 – 3 minutes.
-
- Remove the stones forme half of the prunes and discard. Chop the prunes roughly
and stir into the onion with the port. Cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Add the sage and breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly together. Season the stuffing
mixture to taste.
- Spoon the stuffing into the neck end of the goose, then truss with strong cotton
or fine string. Weigh the bird.
- Put on a wire rack placed in a roasting tin. Cover the breast with the reserved
fat and then with foil. Roast at 200 C or mark 6 for 15 minutes per 450 g plus
15 minutes, basting frequently.
- Thirty minutes before the end of the cooking time, drain off the fat and discard.
Core the apples and cut into eighths, then add to the tin with the remaining prunes
and wine. Place the bird on top, standing on the roasting rack. Remove the foil and
the fat and cook, uncovered, for the last 30 minutes.
- Serve the roast goose with cooking juices and the apples and the prunes. Plain
boiled or mashed potatoes go well with the richness of the goose.
Braised red cabbage is also a traditional accompaniment.
v 50 g butter
v 1.5 kg red cabbage,
finely shredded
v 50 g demerara sugar
v 75 ml malt or cider vinegar
- Put the giblets from the goose in a saucepan. Add 1.5 litres of water and bring
to the boil Simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Strain. Set oven at 230 C
and gas 8. Weigh the goose and calculate the cooking time at 20 minutes per 450 g.
Remove the excess fat. Rinse the inside of the bird, then rub the skin with lemon.
Season with salt and pepper.
- Drain the prunes, remove the stones and roughly chop the flesh. Peel, core and chop
the apples. Add them to the prunes, with salt and pepper. Use the mixture to stuff
the bird. Put the goose on a rack in aroating tin. Place in the oven; lower the
temperature to 180 C or gas 4. Cook for the calculated time. Drain fat form the tin
occasionally.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large flameproof casserole, add the red cabbage
and sugar and stir well. Pour in 75 ml water and the vinegar, with salt and pepper
to taste. Cover and cook in the oven for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- When the goose is cooked, transfer it to a heated serving platter and keep hot.
Drain off the excess fat from the roasting tin, retaining the juices. Stir in
the reserved giblet stock and cook over fairly high heat until reduced to a thin
gravy. Stir in the redcurrant jelly. Serve the gravy and red cabbage separately.
v 450 g plain flour
v 225 g fresh breadcrumbs
v 450 g shredded suet
v 450 g raisins
v 350 g currants
v 125 g mixed peel
v 125 g soft brown sugar
v 50 g chopped blanched
almonds
v 25 g ground mixed spice
v Good pince of salt
v 6 eggs
v 225 ml milk
v 50 ml brandy
- In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients; to ensure that everything
is thoroughly incorporated, it is best to use your hands for this.
- Lightly beat the eggs and stir into the mixture, then add the milk and brandy
and stir until the pudding has a soft consistency. Pack the mixture into a
buttered basin, pressing down well, and tie a layer of greaseproof paper over
the top. Finish off with a pudding cloth tied tightly over the greaseproof.
- Place in a saucepan of boiling water that comes about two thirds of the way up
the side of the basin and boil for about 6 hours. When cooked, remove the cloth
and greaseproof paper and turn out on to a serving dish.
